Mid-century, Victorian England . . . Shaleen Brandon is finding it difficult to secure employment outside the usual domestic situations offered to most women. She is forced to rent out a spare room in her small home and sell a few cherished possessions that belonged to her father in order to make ends meet.
Her situation changes dramatically when she is hired as a secretary for an Inquiry Agency. The young lady is soon caught up in the sleuthing activities and pleasantly surprised at how much she enjoys this unusual aspect of her job.
The lovely Miss Brandon is very much attracted to the eligible and privileged owner of the agency, even though at times, she feels taken for granted and conveniently available. She also becomes involved in a new and dangerous mystery.
A mad man is murdering and depositing bodies of young women in the squalid and shabby areas of London. In addition to the corpse he leaves cryptic notes attached to each victim. Solving the bizarre messages takes time, intuition and the scrutiny of historical records. Preventing more deaths is imperative as well as perilous for the young detectives who eventually narrow the search to a member of the upper echelons of society.